Providing for Consideration of H.R. South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Continental Divide Trail Completion Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Susan Muffley Act of and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.

I rise today to oppose the previous question so we can immediately consider H.R. 1255 and bring forward my good friend Mr. Guest's resolution that will support the brave men and women in the U.S. Border Patrol.

I think it is the right time to be talking about fires, the right time to be talking about not only fires in the literal sense of the fires that have affected my district, but, also, fires in the figurative sense that I believe our President has led us into, especially when it comes to the fires that are going on at our border.

In the figurative sense, if you were there last year as I was under the bridge in Del Rio--and I wish that more of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would actually join us to see those ``fires'' that are going on every single day with the thousands, the hundreds of thousands of people that are crossing illegally.

The administration's policies have been a complete failure at every single turn: the illicit drugs that are flowing into our country; the over 100,000 people who have died needlessly as a result of fentanyl; the known and suspected terrorists that have gotten into our country. I believe the number that has been published by the administration is at 56, though it only took a handful to orchestrate the events of 9/11.

I spent the day talking to the National Narcotics Officers Association. These officers from every walk of life, every corner of this country, and every demographic are completely abandoned. They feel abandoned by the Commander in Chief. If you want to talk about a fire, let's talk about that fire. They feel abandoned while they are trying to do their job. While the powers that be are pursuing the wrong-headed policies, these brave men and women not only of the Border Patrol, ICE, and other CBP officers, but, also, in every law enforcement category are trying to restore law and order to our country while we have the other side of the aisle in favor of lawlessness and chaos. That is a fire that is worth talking about.

It was shocking when we heard President Biden before an investigation was convened, before we knew the facts say: ``I promise you, those people will pay,'' referring to the Border Patrol agents who were doing their job to put out the figurative fires on the southern border. ``I promise you, those people will pay.'' Can you imagine if President Trump had said that? The outcry that would have happened, the outrage.

I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to right this wrong against those Border Patrol agents, their reputations, and their families. Their livelihoods and their careers need to be righted. They have been completely exonerated, but where are my friends on the other side of the aisle? What a shame to have that platform and to use that platform to denigrate these people who are putting their lives on the line to secure our country. They deserve better.

While others on the other side of the aisle may be laughing right now at this discussion, I don't think it is funny, and the people that are securing our country, those Border Patrol agents, certainly don't think it is funny.

The American people deserve better. The Border Patrol agents deserve better. Our law enforcement agents deserve better.

I urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question and to support our law enforcement and Border Patrol.

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